Full-size pick-up trucks are possibly the hottest vehicular trend going right now, and the response to Pickup Trucks Down Under’s (PTDU) first Sydney meet-and-greet sure backs that up! The PTDU crew enlisted the help of 2020 SMOTY winner Aaron Gregory of Memphis Hell and Oxytech Powder Coatings’ Scotty Barter to gather all their mates with off-tap commercial vehicles, resulting in 110 trucks of all descriptions pre-registered for the informal gathering on 26 June.

The clear – if chilly – winter weather had everyone out in force early, and trucks were rolling into Oxytech’s Smithfield car park long before the official start time of 8am. Participants came from as far away as Newcastle and Wollongong, bringing a wide variety of pick-up styles with them.

“John Flanders and the PTDU crew held a Melbourne meet-and-greet recently, and the success of that inspired them to reach out to Aaron and I about putting one together in Sydney,” Scotty explained. “We didn’t want it to be a show, but we wanted a cars-and-coffee vibe so it wasn’t just standing around in the work car park.”

Hot coffee and delicious food from Ynot Crepes and Little Bird Kombi Café kept the masses fed, and the Top Blokes Foundation also had its giveaway ’66 Mustang fastback on show.

But the focus of the day was the casual get-together to check out each other’s trucks – which covered everything from stockers to blown pro street monsters; 4×4 to rear-drive layouts; and small to large sizes.

Scotty and Aaron had put a stack of effort into working out a parking plan, figuring they’d be able to squeeze 100 trucks into the Oxytech driveway and car park, and by 10am all of that space had been taken. The crowd was further swelled by plenty of spectators coming to check out the rides, and there was a steady stream of foot traffic up the driveway as non pick-ups were left parked on the street.

“We’re stoked to support John and the PTDU crew by hosting today, and we’re itching for their next meet-and-greet,” said Scotty.

1. Scotty Barter’s ’56 Chev rides on an HQ panel van chassis and packs a blown 308 and airbag suspension. The truck doesn’t wear any paint; instead, it is powdercoated inside and out!

2. Our reigning Valvoline Street Machine of the Year champion keeps getting better everytime we see it!

3. While it looks like a Datto 1200, this is actually a Nissan Sunny Truck. Mark Hooker from Barrel Brothers custom wheels turned up with the super-cool shop truck, complete with two of his vintage Honda dirt-squirters in the tray as a nod to the long-wheelbase Japanese import’s original history as a delivery rig for a Japanese Harley dealer

4. Thomas and Zach from Backyard Builds came up from the ACT in Thomas’ old faithful HZ Holden ute. Amazingly it was the only Kingswood ute in attendance on the day!

5. Dan’s sweet early 60s F100 packs turbo Barra-power, big Brembo brakes and independent front-end. The Haltech-controlled combo runs a Plazmaman forward-facing plenum and coil-over suspension for a killer pro touring package